Apparatus for coating a portion of a bottle

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for handling a plurality of glass containers moving on a conveyor at spaced intervals to a coating application area where three containers as a group are simultaneously grasped about their side wall and retracted laterally from the surface of the conveyor. This group of containers is then moved through a 90° arc such that the containers exhibit horizontal axes one above the other. After the articles are turned to the horizontal, they are moved into position between three heel and neck-engaging chucks carried by an indexible turret. The bottles are released to the chucks which are cam actuated in timed relationship with respect to the grasping means so that the grasping means will release the containers or bottles to the chucks. With the chucks holding the bottles in horizontal position, the turret rotates about a horizontal axis parallel to the axes of the bottles through an arc of 90° and presents the chucks in a horizontal line at the bottom of the turret. In this position, a shoulder coater mechanism, which is also cam operated, will be elevated into contact with the shoulder portion of the containers and the containers rotated through at least 360° of rotation about their axes. The coating mechanism is retracted and the turret indexed through another 90° arc will bring the containers to the unloading side of the machine where they are grasped by a second set of three side wall-engaging jaws or grasping means. After grasping the containers and pulling back from the chucks the grasping means are rotated about a horizontal axis normal to the axes of the containers so as to revert the containers to an upright position. When in this position, the grasping means are moved forward, at which time they release the containers to an exit or continuously moving conveyor moving away from the application area.

This is a division, of application Ser. No. 806,138 filed June 13, 1977,now U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,447.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Within the last few years it has become desirable to provide protectivecoatings on frangible glass containers, particularly containers where apressurized liquid may be contained therein. It has also become apractice in recent years to put carbonated beverages in containers offairly large capacity such as 32 oz. and 64 oz. bottles. Glass has aninherent strength which is well known; however, it is readily recognizedthat much of its strength may be lost due to the surface abrasion duringthe service life of the container. Typically, containers are coatedshortly after they are produced with lubricious coatings which provideprotection during the handling of the container from the manufacturingplant to the bottling plant where they are filled with a product. Thesecoatings are, however, of a fairly thin character and do not exhibit acohesive strength which would be considered capable of containing glassparticles or fragments if the container were to fail in use.

With this in mind, it has become advantageous to additionally protectthe surface of the containers against abrasion by providing a shrinksleeve cover of polymeric material. Typically, these materials havetaken the form of foam polystyrene or foamed polyethylene. These foamedmaterials have an impact-absorbing strength, as well as preventingscratches or abrasions of the containers' outer surface. Onedisadvantage, when sleeves have been placed on bottles that containcarbonated beverages, is that the sleeve is non-transparent, thus asleeve which extends above the shoulder of the bottle into the area ofthe neck will effectively mask the fill level line. We have been led tobelieve that the visibility of the fill level was a desirablecharacteristic of a container. The ultimate consumer of a productcontained in the bottle prefers to see that the bottle is filled to theproper level before purchasing the container. With this in mind, thepresent invention deals with the method and apparatus for automaticallyhandling bottles through a shoulder and neck area encircling coatingsystem which will apply a relatively clear, transparent layer of organicpolymeric material. This coating, along with the heat shrinkablethermoplastic sleeve, will provide a container which has substantiallyall of its external surface provided with a covering which will preventabrasions of the external surface of the container and have theadditional advantage of preventing substantial glass fragment scatteringupon breakage of the container with its pressurized contents.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,968 shows a sleeve-like cover which in one formprovides a sleeve cover for the main body portion of the container.Another U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,199, assigned to the assignee of thisapplication, shows a neck and shoulder coating head which essentially isthe same as that utilized in the present invention; however, it beingunderstood that the present invention is directed to the machine andprocess for handling the containers into and through the coating processwith return of the coated containers to a conveyor, all of the foregoingoperations being carried out automatically in proper timed sequence.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatus for applying an encircling coatingon a selected portion of a plurality of generally cylindrical articlesin which a means is provided for moving a single line group of articleswhile in an upright position to a first position from which the articleswill be transferred, as a group, to a supporting turret which willreceive the containers in a horizontal attitude. The receiving turretwill index through an arc of 90° while maintaining the group of articleswith their axes horizontal. Each of the articles is rotated in theturret and the coating material is applied to the group of articleswhile being supported and rotated in the turret. The articles will thenbe moved to upright position and released to a conveyor carrying thegroup from the coating process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the coating apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the inlet side of the apparatus of FIG. 1on an enlarged scale illustrating the container grasping means ingrasping position;

FIG. 4 is a view of the exit side of the apparatus of FIG. 1 on anenlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the container supporting turret;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken at line 7--7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the bottle grasping mechanism at the loadingside;

FIG. 9 is a cross-section taken at 9--9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the central portion of the grasping means ofFIG. 8 on an enlarged scale and in open position; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the grasping means at the unloading side.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Generally speaking, the apparatus of the invention is for the purpose ofapplying a polymer coating of a few mils thickness about the shoulderand neck area of a glass container. The apparatus is such that it willperform the handling of incoming bottles, placing the bottles in chucksfor indexing through the coating station and returning the bottles to anoutgoing conveyor, all automatically under the control of a single drivemotor. Three bottles or containers are coated simultaneously and handledsimultaneously by the apparatus. An example of the area of a bottle thatis to be coated by the present apparatus may be found in U.S. Pat. No.3,950,199 granted to H. R. Lucas on Mar. 15, 1974.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a general descriptionof the apparatus will follow.

A machine base 10 supports a main drive motor 11. The motor 11 has amain output pulley 12, as best seen in FIG. 2, drivingly engaging a belt13. The belt 13 drives a pulley 14. The pulley 14 is mounted to ahorizontal shaft 15 that extends substantially the full length of theapparatus. The shaft 15 is supported at various points along its lengthby a plurality of bearing member 16. The bearing members 16 are anchoredto vertical support members 17 which extend between lower horizontalrails 18 and 19 and upper horizontal rails 20 and 21. The shaft 15, atits extreme ends, carries drive pulleys 22 and 23. The pulleys 22 and23, through belts 24 and 25, drive pulleys 26 and 27 positionedvertically thereabove. The pulleys 26 and 27 positioned verticallythereabove. The pulleys 26 and 27 each are connected, respectively, todrive shafts 28 and 29 which extend from gear boxes 30 and 31 whoseoutput shafts 32 and 33 are coupled to gear boxes 34 and 35. The gearboxes 34 and 35 drive cylindrical drums 36 and 37. The drum 36 carries acam track 38 on its outer surface which cam track is continuous throughthe full circumference of the drum. The drum 37 also carries an externalcam track 39 which is similar to the cam track 38. The drums 36 and 37each support cam tracks 40 on the interior surface of the drum. The camtracks 40 are essentially the same; being mirror images of each other,as are the external cam tracks 38 and 39. The drums 36 and 37 arerotated by the drive system in the direction shown by the arrowsthereon.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the gear boxes 34 and 35 are supported from thebase 10 by pillars 41 and 42. Another pair of vertical pillars 43 and 44extending from the base 10, support overhead cross beams 45 and 46. Thepillars 43 and 44, generally speaking, have comparable support pillarsat the rear supporting the other ends of the cross beams 45 and 46. Itshould be understood that the rails 20 and 21 appear both at the forwardand rearward side of the machine and, in effect, form a box-likerectangular structure which supports much of the machinery that ismounted above the level of the base 10 machine.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1-3, the shaft 15 has a pulley 47mounted thereon near the left end thereof which drives a belt 48. Thebelt 48 drives the input shaft (not shown) to a Ferguson indexing drive49. The Ferguson drive 49 has an output shaft 50, best seen in FIG. 3.The output shaft 50 carries a pair of spaced-apart sprockets 51 and 52mounted thereto. The sprockets 51 and 52 carry drive chains 53 and 54which extend thereover and drive a second pair of sprockets 55 and 56mounted at either end of an idler shaft 57. Three guide members 58, 59and 60 extend between the two chains 53 and 54 and are connected theretoso as to move with the chains as they are indexed by the Ferguson drive49. The guide members they are indexed by the Ferguson drive 49. Theguide members 58-60 support slides 61, 62 and 63 respectively, which arereciprocable relative to their guide members. The slides 61-63 each havecam follower rollers 64 on the left ends thereof, as viewed in FIGS. 1,2 and 3. The rollers 64 are adapted to ride within a stationary camtrack 65. The cam track 65, as best shown in FIG. 3, has an offset gap66, the function of which will be explained later. The forward end, orthe end opposite the roller 64, of each of the slides 61-63, carriesbottle grasping jaw mechanisms, generally designated 67, of which thereare three. These jaw mechanisma are identical and are shown retracted inFIG. 1 and in FIG. 3 are shown moved toward a group of three containersC and with their jaws closed about the containers in preparation fortransfer of the group of containers upon the next index of thesupporting chains.

The members 58-60 each have an angle bracket 68 connected thereto, tothe free end of which are connected follower rollers 69. The followerrollers 69 are guided in a box cam slot formed in a cam 70. In thismanner the orientation of each of the members 58-60 relative to thethree positions that the jaws will take during the operation of theapparatus will be assured and the jaws will effectively be preventedfrom swinging or swaying uncontrollably through their movement from theposition of grasping the containers, as shown in FIG. 3, to the secondposition where the containers are moved through 90° about a horizontalaxis such that the containers will be positioned with their axeshorizontal and one above the other. The third set of jaws, in which thecontainers have been taken or released therefrom, are in an idleposition ready to be moved to the top position where they will graspanother set or group of containers. The Ferguson drive, as would beexpected, will move through an angle of 120° during each index.

As previously mentioned, there is a gap in the cam 35 at position 66 andthe follower 64 for the slides 61-63 must be shifted when the followerreaches this gap. The transfer of the follower 64 across this gap iseffected by a slide 71 which takes the form of a block with a slottherethrough within which the follower 64 may move. This slide 71 iscarried at the forward end of an elongated bar 72 which in turn has afollower roller 73 at its rearward end that rides in a cam track 40positioned on the inner circumference of the drum 36. The bar 72 isguided and retained by a plurality of side and top-engaging rollers 74.Just prior to the arrival of the slide 60, to the position shown in FIG.3, the slide 71 will be in retracted position such that its slot will bein alignment with the slot formed in the cam 65, so that when the drive49 indexes the chains and the guide member 60 to the position shown inFIG. 3, the follower 64 will become trapped within the slide 61. At thistime, the slide 71 will be shifted to the position shown in FIG. 3 bythe cam 40, thus moving the follower 64 and the slide 62 toward thegroup of containers. At this time also the jaws carried by the bottlegrasping mechanism will close about the containers. The details of thejaw mechanisms will be described later in connection with FIGS. 8-11. Ascan be seen when viewing FIG. 3, the cam track 65 will guide the slide62 toward the left as the slide 62 is indexed by the Ferguson drive 49.With this motion, the grasping jaws 67 will retract to the left as theyare turned through an angle of approximately 90° to the positionpresently occupied by the slide 61. In this position, the containers Cwill be ready to be received in a set of carriers, generally designated75. The carriers 75 are described in some detail in U.S. Pat. No.2,739,531 with some slight modification having been made. Particularattention is called to the mechanism shown in FIG. 4 of that patent andthe accompanying description.

As shown in FIGS. 5-7 of the present application, the carriers, of whichthere are four sets of three, are mounted to a generally square frame76, mounted by spider arms 77 to a central hub 78. The central hub 78 ismounted for rotation about its horizontal axle 79, with the rearwardportion of the axle 79 being connected to a Ferguson indexing drive 80.The indexing drive 80 is driven through a shaft 81 which extendshorizontally from a gear box 82. The gear box 82 in turn is driven by apulley 83, belt 84, and pulley 85 which is carried by the main driveshaft 15.

The containers C to be coated, as best seen in FIG. 1, move toward thecoating mechanism while positioned upright on a moving conveyor 86,moving in the direction of the arrow shown thereon. A rotating worm 87engages the sides of the containers and spaces the containers at evenlyspaced intervals so that when the containers arrive at the area of thegrasping mechanism 67 they will be spaced so as to be easily grasped bythe mechanism 67. In order for the grasping mechanism 67 to release thecontainers C to the carriers 75, the slide 61, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and3, must be shifted to the right to place the containers in position tobe engaged by the carriers 75. In order to move the slide 61 to theright, a slide 88, similar to the slide 71 previously described, ismounted to the forward end of a bar 89. The bar 89 is reciprocallymounted with side-engaging rollers 90 confining the bar to suchlongitudinal reciprocatory motion. A cam follower 91 connected adjacentthe left-hand end of the bar 89 will follow in the cam track 38 carriedon the exterior of the drum 36. The follower 91 and bar 89 will beshifted to the right by the cam track 38 and when the containers are tobe released from the mechanism 67, a cam plate 92, carried on thesurface of the drum 36, will engage a follower roller 93.

The position of the cam track 38, as well as the cam plate 92, are shownout of actual position for the purpose of illustration. The drum 36 willbe rotated at a given speed depending upon the speed of the othermechanisms and the function of these cams will be apparent from thefollowing.

With reference to FIG. 3, the follower roller 93 is carried at one endof an arm member 94 which is pivoted intermediate its length at 95 tothe end of bar 89. A connecting link 96 is connected to the other end ofthe arm member 94 and to the end of a second arm member 97 which ispivotally mounted at 98 adjacent the forward end of the bar 89. The armmember 97 at its end opposite the end that is connected to the link 96is provided with an engaging member 98. The member 98, upon actuation ofthe arm 97 by the link 96, will move an actuator link 99 carried by theslide 61 with the forward end of the actuator link 99 connected to acrank arm 100 of the clamping mechanism 67. It should be understood thatthe shifting of the actuator link 99 to the right, as viewed in FIG. 3,will effect the opening of the grasping members to permit the release ofthe members to the carriers 75. When the rod 89 moves forward, timing ofthe opening and closing of the carriers 75 is such that they will beready to receive the containers C, at the point in time when thecontainers are presented thereto. The carriers 75, as best seen in FIGS.5 and 6, are carried in groups of three on each side of the squareframes 76. Each carrier 75 is composed of a bottom-engaging plate 101and a neck or finish gauging 102. Both the bottom plate and the finishholder are operatively mounted to a pair of parallel, generallyhorizontal, rods 103 and 104. It should be understood that all of thecarriers 75 are essentially identical. In the actual construction ofthese carriers, the bottom plate 101 is fixed relative to the rods 104,with the rod 103 extending through and being relatively movable withrespect thereto. The finish holder 102 is carried by a head member 105in the form of a casting through which both the rods 103 and 104 extend.A portion of the head member 105 that surrounds the rod 103 isadjustably fastened to the rod 103 and at its extreme end, as viewed inFIG. 5, it is fixed to a cross-head 106.

Each of the head members 105 contain spring means therein which willeffectively urge the finish holder 102 in the direction of the bottomplate 101. The carriers 75 are actuated by engagement of the left-handends of the rods 103 by a bar 107 when the carriers are in thebottle-receiving position at the left side in FIG. 1 and as seen in FIG.6. The bar 107 is carried at the forward end of a horizontal slide 108.Its rearward end, as viewed in FIG. 6, carries a cam follower roller109. The cam follower roller 109 follows a cam track 110 formed in theface of a circular plate 111. The plate 111 is mounted to a horizontalshaft 112 which is supported by bearings mounted at the back of theindexing drive housing 80. The shaft 112 is driven by a spur gear 113which meshes with a spur gear 114 connected to an output shaft 115which, in effect, is driven by the drive shaft 81 which drives theFerguson indexing drive 80.

Thus it can be seen that upon presentation of bottles to the carriers75, shown to the left of FIG. 7, and by actuation of these carriers bythe bar 107, the containers may be loaded therein. Operation of theindexing drive through 90° will move the loaded containers to a positionwhere their horizontal axes will now lie in a single horizontal plane atthe lower side of the frame 76. In this indexed position the containersare ready to be coated with the polymer in essentially the same manneras taught in the previously referred-to U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,199 issuedto H. R. Lucas. This Lucas patent shows a reservoir containing a supplyof organic polymeric material and with rotation of the bottles inengagement with the reservoir will result in the coating of the portionof the container which is contacted by the upper, open end of the fluidreservoir.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, there is schematically shown areservoir 116 carried at the end of a support arm 117 that is pivoted at118 to a mounting plate 119. The plate 119 is stationary and alsohappens to serve as the mount for the gear box 82. An arm 120, extendingto the left, as viewed in FIG. 6, is provided with an elongated slot 121therein, within which an actuator drive roller 122 is mounted. Theroller 122 is connected to one end of an arm 123 which has its other endpivoted at 124 to a fixed bracket 125. The arm 123 describes generally aright angle with the roller 122 being fixed adjacent one end thereof anda cam follower roller 126 being carried intermediate the length of thearm. The cam roller 126 rides in a cam slot 127 formed in a disc 128carried on the shaft 115.

In proper timed sequence and upon the initial driving of the shaft 15through the various reduction gears and gear boxes, the reservoir 116will be placed into and out of contact with the shoulders of thecontainers C that are positioned on the lower side of the frame 76. Whenthe containers are in this position, they are rotated about their axesby engaging a driven chain 129 by a sprocket 130 carried by each holder,for driving the bottom plate 101. While only a few of the holders areshown as having a sprocket, all of them will have drive sprockets. Thechain 129 may be continuously driven by any suitable motor or driveconnected to a shaft 131 of a drive sprocket 132. An idler sprocket 133,schematically shown in FIG. 7, completes the drive system for the chain129. The total circumference of the container area that is engaged bythe reservoir 116 is thereby coated because the holders or carriers arein the coating station for a period of time to be rotated several times.The reservoir, however, will be placed against the container for a timesufficient to make one complete cycle.

After the containers have been coated, the spider arms 77 and the frame76 will be indexed through 90° in a counter-clockwise direction asviewed in FIG. 7, at which time the coated containers will be at theright side of the frame 76 with their axes defining a vertical plane atthe right side thereof. When the containers have arrived at thisposition, they will be released from the carriers 75 and received by abottle-grasping mechanism 134. All of the grasping means 134 which aremounted to the right side of the machine, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 andas shown in somewhat enlarged detail in FIG. 4, are identical.

Again, as with regard to the description of the grasping mechanism 67,there are three sets of jaws in each group of grasping mechanisms andthere are three groups of grasping mechanisms 134 used on the right, or"unload" side of the machine. When the coated containers have arrived atthe right side of the frame 76, as viewed in FIG. 7, the three carriers75 will be simultaneously opened through engagement of the horizontalrods 103 by a vertical bar 135 (see FIG. 5). The bar 135, like the bar107, is carried at the forward end of a slide 136 which is guided in aretainer 137 mounted to the side of the indexing drive 80 by a bracket138. The left-hand end of the slide 136 carries a cam follower roller139 which will follow a cam track 140 formed in the face of a plate 141.The plate 141 is mounted to the horizontal shaft 12 and rotated thereby.Release of the bottles from the carriers 75 by the operation of the bar135 is done in synchronism with the arrival of the grasping mechanism134 to the position shown in FIG. 2. The grasping means, when in thisposition, will be opened and receive the containers C therein. Anoperating rod 142 of the grasping mechanism 134 is manipulated andcauses the fingers of the grasping mechanism to close about and engagethe sides of the containers C.

The grasping mechanisms 134, shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, are supported byguide members 143, 144 and 145. The guide member 143 carries a slide 146to which is mounted one of the grasping mechanisms 134. The guide member144 carries a slide 147 to which is mounted another set of the graspingmechanisms 134. The slide 143 carries a cam follower roller 148, as bestseen in FIG. 4, which rides within a cam track 149 formed on theunderside of a cam plate 150. The cam plate 150 extends generallycircumferentially about the horizontal axes of a pair of sprockets 151and 152. The sprockets 151 and 152 are essentially the same as sprockets55 and 56 described previously with respect to FIG. 3. The sprockets 151and 152 are interconnected by a drive chain 153. The sprocket 152 isindexed by a Ferguson indexing drive 154 which is driven from the shaft15 through a drive belt 155. A second pair of sprockets 156 and 157 arelikewise driven by the indexing drive 154 with these sprockets 156 and157 being mounted to the ends of shafts 158 and 159. A second chain 160joins the two sprockets 156 and 157. As in the case of the guide members58-60 of FIG. 3, the guide members 143-145 are mounted between the twochains and fixed thereto such that they move with the movement of thechains.

With the mechanism positioned as shown in FIG. 4, the container at thebottom of the figure has been grasped by the grasping mechanism 134 andretracted by engagement of a slide 161 with the cam follower roller 148.The slide 161 is on the forward end of an elongated horizontal bar 162with the opposite end of the bar 162 having a cam follower roller 163connected thereto. The cam follower roller 163 will move within the camtrack 39 carried by the drum 37. If the container is retracted, aspreviously stated, to the position shown in FIG. 4, the index drive 154will move the guide member 143 to the position of the guide member 142.This will result in the slide 146 moving to the left to the position ofthe slide 147 shown due to the contour of the cam track 149. In actualpractice, the position of the grasping mechanism 134 in FIG. 4 is justprior to the completed movement into the fully indexed position, sincethe grips or jaws are still closed. However, once the grasping mechanism134, which is connected to the slide 147 arrives in the position shown,the slide 147 will have been moved forward and its cam follower roller164 will enter a cam slot 165 formed in a slide 166.

The slide 166, in addition to having the cam slot 165 formed therein, isprovided on the underside thereof with an arm-engaging cam member orabutment 167. The slide 147, as do the other comparable slides on the"unload" side of the machine, also carries an arm 168 that is pivotallyconnected thereto at 169. The arm 168 is adapted to engage the cammember 167 when the guide member 144 and slide 147 move into theposition shown in FIG. 4. This will effectively rock the arm 168 in aclockwise direction about its pivot 169 to move a link 170 to the left,as viewed in FIG. 4, and operate a crank arm 171 and a bifurcated,pivoted ctuator 172 in a counter-clockwise direction to effectively openthe jaws of the grasping mechanism 134. Upon opening of these graspingmechanisms 134, the slide 147 will be moved to the right by the slide166 engaging the cam follower roller 164. The slide 166 is carried onthe left-hand end of a bar 173 which carries a cam follower roller 174adjacent its right-hand end. This cam follower roller 174 rides within acam track 175 carried on the inner surface of the drum 37. It canreadily be seen that retraction of the bar 173 will result in thegrasping mechanism 134 being moved to the right, as viewed in FIG. 4,and the containers that are thus released will be moved away from themachine on a conveyor 176 moving in the direction of the arrow showntherewith.

The path of movement of the guide members 58-60 which carry the graspingmechanism 67, are guided in their paths by a pair of horizontallyspaced, vertically oriented, box cams 7 and 8. These cams 7 and 8 guidethe chains 53 and 54 which carry followers in their orbital path aboutthe four sprockets 51, 52, 55 and 56. In a like manner, a pair ofhorizntally spaced, vertical cams 177 and 178 guide the chains 153 and160 and the guide members 143-145. Each of the guide members 143-145 isalso provided with an angle bracket 179 which carries a cam followerroller 180 which rides within a cam track 181 of a cam member 182. Thebracket 79 is welded to the guide member, but permits sliding movementof the slides thereunder. The operating rods 170 and an unlatching rod183 for releasing the jaws of the grasping mechanism, pass throughopenings in the bracket 179.

It should be kept in min that the drawings are schematic, in that allthe small details of the mechanism as it is actually built have not beenshown. The drawings, however, clearly set forth the principles of theinvention and illustrate the actual construction of the machine from abasic point of view.

The cam tracks 65 and 150 essentially are continuous except for theoffset at 66 and 166 where slides 71 and 166 operate and the necessaryinterruptions for the slides 88 and 161 to reciprocate the graspingmeans 67 and 134 into and out of position to release the bottles to thecarriers 75 when at either side of the coating section of the machine.

The details of a grasping mechanism is given with reference to FIGS.8-11. The grasping means shown specifically in FIGS. 8-10 is thegrasping means 67 which appears in FIG. 1 at the left-hand side. Thismechanism was described somewhat in detail in the description of FIG. 3.The mechanism 67 is comprised of three movable fingers 184, 185 and 186.Each of these fingers is pivoted to a casting 187 which generallyextends the full length of the grasping member 67. Casting 187 alsocarries fixed bottle engaging members 188, 189 and 190. The members188-190 may be formed of a material which will not scratch or abrade thecontainers as well as the actual engaging pads of the movable fingers184-186. Each of the fingers is shown in closed position in FIG. 8.

The casting 187 carries a vertically extending plate 191 to which thefixed fingers are actually mounted by the interposition of a horizontalportion 192, shown in dotted line in FIG. 8. The casting 187, as perhapsbest shown in FIG. 9, is provided with three upstanding guides 193, 194and 195. These gudes are provided with rectangular openingstherethrough, through which an atuator bar 196 extends. The actuator bar196 has an abutment 197 fixed to the upper face thereof adjacent theright-hand end, as viewed in FIG. 9. The abutment 197 carries ahorizontal, extending pin 198 which serves as a guide pin for a coilspring 199. The spring 199 serves to bias the bar 196 toward the left,as viewed in FIG. 9, or toward the top, as viewed in FIG. 8. The bar 196also carries three spaced, vertical, actuating members 200, 201 and 202.These members take the form of short cylinders that are welded to theside of the bar 196. The function of each of these actuating members isto engage one end of crank levers 203, 204 and 205. These crank levers203-205 are pivotally mounted, intermediate their length, to the back ofthe vertical plate 191. Those ends of the levers which are remote fromthe actuator mebers 200-202 are pivotally connected to intermediatelinks 206, 207 and 208. The links 206-208 in turn are pivotallyconnected to the rearward ends of the movable fingers 184-186respectively. Each of the intermediate links is connected to a tensionspring 209 so as to, in effect, bias the linkage mechanism such that thefingers 184-186 will be biased into closing position relative to thestationary pads 188-190.

In the position shown in FIG. 8, the fingers 184-186 are in closedposition and the compression spring 199 will maintain the bar 196 in theposition shown. This is the position where the grasping mechanism 67 hasgrasped the bottles preparatory to transferring them to the positionwhere they will be received by the support turret carriers 75. It shouldbe kept in mind that the grasping mechanism 67 is normally in the openposition except during actual transfer of the grasped containers, and isplaced in the open position by the actuator link 99 connected to thecrank arm 100. The crank arm 100 moves a bifurcated member 210 thatembraces the upwardly extending portion of the actuating member 201.This movement is illustrated, when considering the position of thelinkages in FIG. 10, wherein the bifurcated member 210 has been rotatedclockwise so as to move the bar 196 against the spring 199. In thisposition, a spring-biased detent member 211 will fall within a recess212 in the side of the bar 196. As long as the detent 211 remains inengagement within the recess 212, the bar 196 will remain in theposition shown in FIG. 10 and the fingers of the grasping mechanism willremain open.

At the time that the grasping mechanism 67 is moved to the positionshown in FIG. 3 by the index drive 49 and through the operation of thecam 15 and the follower 73 which is connected to the bar 72, the slide61 will move forward carrying the grasping mechanism therewith. At thistime the detent 211, which has a downwardly extending trip lever 213,will engage an abutment (not shown) which is carried on the outside ofthe box cam 70. When the detent member 211 is shifted clockwise from itsspring-biased position, it will immediately free the bar 196 to moveupwardly, as viewed in FIGS. 8 and 10, and effectively cause the fingers184-186 to close. The fingers will stay in this position until thegrasping mechanism 67 is moved through the first index movement, atwhich time the actuator link 99 will be actuated by the follower roller93 engaging the cam plate 92 while at the same time the graspedcontainers in the grasping mechanism 67 will be moved to the right, asviewed in FIG. 3, by the cam follower 91 moving in the track 38. Theconnecting link 96, as shown in FIG. 3, is spring-biased by a spring 214surrounding the member intermediate its length and positioned between anabment carried by the link and a fixed abutment connected to thesupporting members that extend from the stationary housing of theindexing drive 49. As previously explained, the containers will bereleased to the turret for handling through the coating process.

After the containers are coated, it is necessary that they be removedfrom the turret and returned to the outgoing conveyor 176. The mechanismthat does this task is the grasping mechanism 134 which, generallyspeaking, is identical to the grasping mechanism 67, with the exceptionthat a spring-biased detent 215 is actuated in the proper sequence by aconnecting rod 216 connected thereto at one end with the opposite end ofthe rod 216 passing through an opening formed in the angle bracket 179.A stop member or collar 217 carried by the rod 216 will engage the anglebracket 179 when the slide 147 will have moved forward to the positionwhere the fingers of the grasping mechanism will be in position to graspthe containers that have been coated. At this point in time, it shouldbe understood that the containers will have their axes horizontal andpositioned toward the front of the mechanism as shown in FIG. 4. It isat this time when the slide 147 is moved forward toward the threecontainers mounted in the turret that the collar 217 will engage theangle bracket 179, causing the grasping mechanism 134 to close and graspthe contaners. The grasping mechanism 134 will then be withdrawn to theposition shown in FIG. 4 by the action of the cam follower 163 riding inthe cam track 39, as previously explained. Upon indexing of the graspingmechanism from the position on the front in FIG. 4, to the positionillustrated in FIG. 11, the cam follower roller 164 which is carried bythe slide 147 will move to the position shown in FIG. 11 and then alittle bit further with the completion of the index movement. Theposition shown in FIG. 11 is that position of the follower 164 justprior to the opening of the grasping mechanism 134 and just prior to thewithdrawal of the grasping mechanism 134 by operation of the bar 173 andslide 166 carried at the forward end of the bar 173.

As can be seen when viewing FIG. 11, completion of the indexing movementwill move the lever 168 so that its actuator will engage and bedisplaced by the cam member 167. It should be understood that the cammember 167 is carried with the slide 166 and upon completion of theindexing movement bringing the cntainers C into position over the movingconveyor 176, the bifurcated actuator 172 will be operated by the arm168 which is pivoted at 169, and upon operation of the actuator 172 theclamping fingers will release the containers, at which point in time theslide 166 will move to the right, as viewed in FIG. 11, so as to alignthe follower roller 164 with the continuing cam track 149 of the camplate 150.

It has been found that in order for the operation of this mechanism toperform the motions in handling of the containers with a smooth andflawless motion, that the conveyor 176 be moving at the same linear rateas the rate of movement of the index mechanism which brings the graspingmechanisms 134 to the position overlying the conveyor 176. In thismanner, the containers are released to the conveyor without any changein the velocity of the containers. By the same token, containersarriving on the conveyor 86, likewise will be picked up and grasped bythe mechanism 67 and removed from the conveyor 86 at the same velocityas the containers are moving on the incoming conveyor. To this end, thedrive for the conveyors and the indexing of the grasping members areinterrelated to assure smooth pick-up and release of containers from andto the conveyors.

We claim:
 1. Apparatus for applying an encircling coating on a glasscontainer comprising:means for moving containers in spaced-apart seriesto a first position: first means at said first position for grasping aplurality of said containers at a time; means connected to said graspingmeans for indexing said grasping means and removing the containers fromsaid means for moving the containers, said indexing means moving thecontainers through an arc of 90° from the vertical to the horizontal;means for simultaneously receiving the plurality of horizontallyoriented containers between a plurality of neck and base engagingchucks; means connected to said chucks for moving said chucks, as agroup, through a 90° arc; means for rotating said chucks about theirhorizontal axes; coater means movable into engagement with the containerwhile being rotated; second means for grasping the coated containers andremoving them from the chucks; a moving conveyor extending from theapplication area; and means connected to said second grasping means forreleasing the containers to said conveyor.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said grasping means comprises a shiftable member having aplurality of fixed fingers at one end thereof, a plurality of movablefingers, complementary to said fixed fingers and carried by saidshiftable member.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said movablefingers are spring-biased into grasping position and means responsive toshifting of said member for releasing said movable fingers.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein said means responsive to shifting of themember comprises a spring-biased latch and a spring-biased fingeractuator carried by said member, and a locking recess formed in saidactuator within which said latch is normally seated when the fingers areopen.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said means for releasing saidlatch comprises a stationary abutment engageable by said latch uponmovement of said shiftable member into position to grasp a group ofarticles.
 6. Apparatus for applying an encircling coating on a selectedportion of a plurality of generally cylindrical articlescomprising:conveyor means for moving a group of said articles in uprightposition at spaced intervals to a first position; first means adjacentsaid first position for grasping the group of articles by side-engagingmeans; drive means connected to said first means for withdrawing thegroup from the first position and moving the group through an arc of 90°to present the group with their axes horizontal; a generally horizontalarticle group supporting turret; means for releasing the group from saidfirst means to said turret; means for indexing the turret through 90°while maintaining the group of articles with their axes horizontal;means for rotating said articles while in said turret; means forapplying a coating material to the group of articles while supported insaid turret; said means for indexing carrying an already coated group ofarticles to an unloading position; second means for grasping the groupthat has been coated; drive means connected to said second means forwithdrawing the group from said turret and moving the coated groupthrough an arc of 90° to present the group with their axes vertical; andmeans for releasing said group of articles to a conveyor for carryingthe group from the coating apparatus.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6wherein said grasping means comprises a shiftable member having aplurality of fixed fingers at one end thereof, a plurality of movablefingers, complementary to said fixed fingers and carried by saidshiftable member.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said movablefingers are spring-biased into grasping position and means responsive toshifting of said member for releasing said movable fingers.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8 wherein said means responsive to shifting of themember comprises a spring-biased latch and a spring-biased fingeractuator carried by said member, and a locking recess formed in saidactuator within which said latch is normally seated when the fingers areopen.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said means for releasing saidlatch comprises a stationary abutment engageable by said latch uponmovement of said shiftable member into position to grasp a group ofarticles.
 11. Apparatus for applying an encircling coating on a selectedportion of a plurality of generally cylindrical articlescomprising:conveyor means for moving a group of said articles in uprightposition at spaced intervals to a first position; first means adjacentsaid first position for grasping the group of articles by side-engagingmeans; drive means connected to said grasping means for withdrawing thegroup from the first position and moving the group through an arc of 90°to present the group with their axes horizontal; a generally horizontalarticle group supporting turret; means for indexing the turret through90° while maintaining the group of articles with their axes horizontal;means for applying a coating material to the group of articles whilesupported and rotated in said turret; second means for grasping thegroup that has been coated; and means connected to said second means forreleasing said group of articles to a conveyor for carrying the groupfrom the coating apparatus.